Heard that. I run 6 or 7 speed on everything right now.

So far, so good, mileage-wise.

i had a downtube shifter come apart while my road bike was in my dad's trunk.

The trunk lid bouncing on it caused the screw to back out, spilling all the internal parts all over the road.

It was a Suntour Superbe lever, ratcheting friction + 6 speed index + 7 speed index.

Paid 50 bucks for the set as a bag of parts...

I loved those levers.

Anyway, my roadbike is accushift/superbe 7 speed now, but it's a mutt, anyway.

My tourer has suntour thumb shifters, 6 speed index, but the rd is worn out and the hanger's a little bent, so i friction shift a 7 speed suntour fw on it.

I've heard tales of 80,000 to 100,000 miles on suntour cogs(if you don't cross-chain small to small), so maybe mine will last awhile.

All of mine are used, but none of them skip.